[svelte]

It’s even more basic than that.

Supply and demand.

[svelte]

Dupe.

[svelte]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=svelte][quote=FlyerInHi]
The red states have more druggies than anywhere.[/quote]

Please support that with data.[/quote]

I meant the growth rates. The big cities in blue states are saturated already and the cities are gentrifying so drug use is not growing. Consumer goods always seek new markets and new markets are in suburban, exurban and rural areas.
West Virginia has the worse overdose rate. There’s not a lot of a data of rural areas.

But, never mind, I think I’m wrong. No worries, good family values will prevent any problem in wholesome, god fearing red state areas. The red states have drugs well under control. We should concentrate research and resources on big coastal cities.

https://newsok.com/article/5558012/oklahoma-deaths-from-opioid-meth-and-heroin-increase
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5119476/pdf/nihms829439.pdf%5B/quote%5D

So I ask you to prove your statement, you say nevermind and then tout several more unproven points.

The articles you link to are interesting and worrisome, but don’t prove either your original nor revised hypotheses.

I wouldn’t get too spun up about what the drug dujour is this year. Popularity of specific drugs rise and fall faster than hemlines. Folks freak out at what is currently increasing. Shoot, I remember in the 1980s papers were stating that crack cocaine was going to kill this country. We were going to have crack babies flooding hospitals. Now – nary a word about crack or crack babies. Druggies have moved on to a new shiny drug. And they always will.

[svelte]

[quote=FlyerInHi]
The red states have more druggies than anywhere.[/quote]

Please support that with data.

[svelte]

[quote=EconProf]In terms of accomplishing liberals’ goals, Trump should be applauded. On many fronts–not all–he is succeeding… wages picking up steam…[/quote]

[img_assist|nid=26738|title=US Wage Growth 2008-2018|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=466|height=249]

[svelte]

[quote=EconProf]
OK, here’s the spike: The growth rate during Obama’s 8 years averaged under 2%. This despite the historical tendency for deep recessions to be followed by strong recoveries. Under Trump the annual growth rate is approximately 3% per year, a difference that has a big long run impact over time.
[/quote]

Obama’s 8 years average out to under 2% because of that disastrous first year trying to recover from the previous administration. Otherwise it would have been higher (see chart below).

Trump’s growth rate appears to be on a downward trajectory now, I’ll continue to monitor it into his 3rd and 4th year.

[img_assist|nid=26737|title=US Growth Rate 2008-2018|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=466|height=239]

[svelte]

[quote=EconProf]… and stood up to Syria and ISIS. [/quote]

Not so much.

[svelte]

[quote=NeetaT]Oh no! Here I go again. I’m watching Fox News. Those guys are real deplorables.

They believe in:

1.) Low taxes
2.) Limited government
3.) Secure borders
4.) Respect for law enforcement
5.) They are anti affirmative action.
6.) They don’t believe in getting rid of plastic straws.
7.) They don’t believe in making people pay for plastic grocery bags.
8.) They believe in personal responsibility.
9.) They don’t believe in putting triangle signs on bathroom doors.
10.) They believe that certain criminals should be shot on sight.

OH NO!!!!![/quote]

Interesting that you should pick those particular points.

If the Fox News stance on those issues is what is really important to you, then there is a huge swath of the southeastern United States that agrees with you on most if not all of those points where you might be a wee bit happier.

I should emphasize the word “might”.

[svelte]

The big news this year is what went on in very very Republican Oklahoma:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/la-na-oklahoma-pot-laws-20181222-story.html

If OK can go from zero to virtually no-holds-barred medical MJ in six months, then the south is probably not far behind.

Interesting how the OK gov tried to set the ballot initiative up for failure by putting it on the primary ballot (which tends to lean even more conservative) yet it passed at 57% – not even a close vote!

Then when the state tried to place strict limits on medical MJ they were taken to court and had to back down.

Also worth noting is there will be 45 medical MJ stores in the two largest OK college towns that have a combined population of 170K. !!! That’s waaay beyond the store density I’ve heard in any Calif city.

[svelte]

McMaster – gone
Tillerson – gone
Mattis – gone

As soon as Kelly leaves at the first of the year, there will no more adults left in the White House. None.

Two years into his presidency.

Tighten your seat belts, fellow citizens.

[svelte]

Jc is probably talking about side setback, not front

[svelte]

Schwarzenegger has become very adept at trolling the Trump idiocy. In response to reports that Trump is considering ordering grid operators to buy electricity from coal and nuclear plants, Arnold tweeted:

“I eagerly await the administration’s regulations protecting pagers, fax machines, and Blockbuster.”

[svelte]

[quote=EconProf]
[quote=svelte][quote=EconProf]In terms of accomplishing liberals’ goals, Trump should be applauded. On many fronts–not all–he is succeeding. A booming economy, record low unemployment, wages picking up steam, state tax revenues exceeding all predictions…
[/quote]

Well, you’re giving him a bit more credit than he deserves. The economy was improving every day when he took office, which brings lower unemployment and higher wages with it. Unless you can show me a definite spike in those figures after he took office, tend not to credit him with those.
[/quote]
OK, here’s the spike: The growth rate during Obama’s 8 years averaged under 2%. This despite the historical tendency for deep recessions to be followed by strong recoveries. Under Trump the annual growth rate is approximately 3% per year, a difference that has a big long run impact over time. [/quote]

I notice you switched horses from unemployment, wages, etc to growth rate. Seemed to me that might indicate those numbers don’t tell the story you wanted to tell, so I checked. They don’t.
[img_assist|nid=26645|title=2017 US Unemployment Rate|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=399|height=180]

[img_assist|nid=26646|title=2017 US Wage Growth|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=280]

Even the growth rate story doesn’t really pan out so far. If you look at this graph, Obama’s first year growth rate is roughly equivalent to Obama’s. If you want to compare Obama’s best growth rate year to Trumps, Obama wins. I think it only fair that we wait a few years before we declare victory/failure on Trump’s policies.

[img_assist|nid=26647|title=US Growth Rate 2017|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=302]

[quote=EconProf]
BTW, I’m not saying Trump is a nice guy. His tweets are adolescent, his comments gross, his personal history shameful, and his tweets damaging even to his supporters. But ironically, by doing the opposite of what Obama did for 8 years, he is accomplishing some surprisingly good things.[/quote]

I think his unpredictability may have a good side too…we all know the bad side of it. The good side is it keeps other countries on edge…what tariff / embargo will he implement next? That gives them motivation to give us a great deal that he’ll like.

I still wish he wasn’t our president.

[svelte]

[quote=EconProf]In terms of accomplishing liberals’ goals, Trump should be applauded. On many fronts–not all–he is succeeding. A booming economy, record low unemployment, wages picking up steam, state tax revenues exceeding all predictions. These are priorities liberals say they want. Perhaps that’s why his popularity is climbing.
[/quote]

Well, you’re giving him a bit more credit than he deserves. The economy was improving every day when he took office, which brings lower unemployment and higher wages with it. Unless you can show me a definite spike in those figures after he took office, tend not to credit him with those.

There have been a few things I’ve liked that he has done, but he seems to have always screwed them up in the end. A small tax cut would have been great, but the over-the-top cut he implemented increased the deficit. Funny how Republicans are anti-deficit until they control the government…

I also liked his states-rights stance when he was first elected, but he seems to have jettisoned that also. Witness his desire to take away California’s right for strict car emission standards.

Finally, the stock market has certainly improved under his watch, no doubt about it. Which I’m fine with, as long as he doesn’t undo so many financial safeguards that we go right back into another financial crisis.

I’m an undeclared, neither Dem nor Rep, so I can pick and choose the best from both sides. I’ve liked both Bushes, Clinton, and Obama. Though mostly in retrospect – I was much more critical of them while in office. But I’ll tell you this: Trump will easily go down as the worst president in my lifetime and probably all the way back to 1900. Worse than even Nixon and Carter. Just horrific.

[svelte]

I don’t think Mr. “Grab’em by the pu**y” has any right to call for someone to be fired for saying “feckless c*nt”.

[Author]

Posts